Stu Varney Hated Oil Subsidies Before He Loved Them

Fox News' business commentator Stuart Varney scolded President Obama yesterday[1] for saying that oil companies enjoy "subsidies" at the expense[2] of taxpayers. We shouldn't use the word "subsidies," Varney said, because they're actually tax breaks. He added: "Drilling deductions are an encouragement to drill. Take them away? Less encouragement. Less drilling":

Varney felt so strongly about this purported distinction between subsidies and tax breaks that he also uploaded a YouTube video[3] rehashing his point: "Let's be very clear. It is not a subsidy."

Less than a year ago, Varney not only called the oil tax breaks[7] "subsidies," he agreed we need to "get rid of them" and specifically rejected the notion that oil companies would be less inclined to drill without the tax preferences:

That was April 2011. Two months later, Varney was calling oil subsidies "wonderful[8]," and now he's quibbling about the definition of "subsidy," echoing the talking points of the American Petroleum Institute[9]. Quite a reversal.